Auxiliary keyboard for card punch machine

ABSTRACT

An auxiliary keyboard for use as an accessory to a card punch machine that punches information into data processing cards, such keyboard having lead wires connected into the circuit of the card punch machine for applying an operating voltage to preselected portions of the circuit in response to manual depression of finger keys of the keyboard. The keyboard has three keys, the first for causing the card punch machine to space in automatic succession without requiring repeated depressions of the key for traversing across the individual spaces, the second for causing the machine to skip spaces at a higher rate than the first key, and the third being for operating the duplicating function of the machine at a greater rate than ordinarily achieved when the machine is in its manual mode of operation.

iinited States Patent inventor Daniel J. Stevens 2690 S. Stoughton Road,Madison, Wis. 53716 Appl. No. 866,672

Filed Oct. 15, 1969 Patented Dec. M, 1971 AUXILIARY KEYBOARD FOIR CARDPUNCH MACHINE 2 Claims, 1 Drawing liig.

Primary Examiner-William S. Lawson Attorneys-Arthur H. Seidel and AlllanW. Leiser ABSTRACT: An auxiliary keyboard for use as an accessory to acard punch machine that punches information into data processing cards,such keyboard having lead wires connected into the circuit of the cardpunch machine for applying an operating voltage to preselected portionsof the circuit in response to manual depression offinger keys of thekeyboard. The keyboard has three keys, the first for causing the cardpunch machine to space in automatic succession without requiringrepeated depressions of the key for traversing across the individualspaces, the second for causing the machine to skip spaces at a higherrate than the first key, and the third being for operating theduplicating function of the machine at a greater rate than ordinarilyachieved when the machine is in its manual mode of operation.

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v m m INV ENTOR DANIEL J- STEVE NS ATTORNEY m vN - BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention pertains to the operation of card punchmachines for inserting information into data processing cards and toincreasing the speed of certain functions of such machines. Moreparticularly, it is primarily intended as an auxiliary item forInternational Business Machines Corporation (herein referred to as IBM)card punch machines such as the Model 29 for increasing the speed ofspace, skip and duplicate functions.

In the lBM card punch machine, such as the Model 295, there is a cardpunch station in which a card is moved a space at a time under a set ofpunches. There are 12 punches in a line for making perforations in thecard to represent data or information. There are 80 spaces through whichthe card is progressively moved, so that l2 rows with 80 columns areprovided for the receipt of punched information. The card punch machinealso has a reading station in which the perforations of a previouslypunched card may be read, or sensed, so that the information in suchcard may be repeated, or duplicated in a card in the punch station.

For the punching operation, a previously prepared program can be fedinto the machine for automatic, successive movement of the 80 columns ofa card under the set of punches, and for automatic punching ofinformation as proper columns are brought beneath the punches. For thisautomatic operation, a program cylinder containing information is placedin the machine and a set of rotatable star wheels ride on the cylinderto read out the program coded into the cylinder. The program will punchin certain data, and also can be utilized to bring the card beingpunched to certain positions where special data can be inserted by themachine operator by operation of a keyboard similar to that of atypewriter.

In addition to the automatic operation, the machine may be placed in amanual mode of operation, and the keyboard is then operated to punch inthe desired data. For the manual mode, the star wheel elements areraised out of engagement with the program cylinder. One instance of useof the manual mode is where an existing card is to be corrected toreceive revised information. For this operation, a fresh card is placedin the punch station and the card to be revised is placed in the readingstation. A duplicate key (hereinafter referred to at times by thethree-letter term dup) is then pressed, and the fresh card will haveduplicated in its columns the punched information appearing in the cardto be corrected. When a column to be corrected is reached the dup key isreleased, and new information is then manually punched, or coded intothe fresh card by use of the keyboard. The dup key can then again bedepressed for a duplicating function until the next column to becorrected is reached. This procedure is repeated for the length of thecard, i.e., the 80 columns.

The keyboard of an IBM card punch machine has a space bar, similar tothat of a typewriter, for which a depression will advance, or space acard for one column. For successive spacing there must be successivedepressions of the space bar. The keyboard also has a skip key, but inthe manual mode it functions like the space bar, i.e., one column orstep of movement per depression. The primary purpose of such a skip keyis to rapidly skip a "field" when operating in connection with anautomatic program utilizing the star wheel, a field being defined as apreselected group of successive columns.

The operation of either the dup key or space bar of an IBM Model 29 isquite slow when the machine is in the manual mode of operation. Forexample, a depression of the dup key will advance a card at about 9.5spaces, or columns, per second, and for the space bar operation is atthe slow rate of how fast an operator can repeatedly depress the bar. Ifthese functions could be accelerated a definite efficiency in machineoperation could be achieved. It is to this problem of increasing machinespeed to which the present invention is addressed.

SUMMARY OF THE llNVENTION The invention resides in an auxiliary keyboardfor a card punch machine with a set of manually depressible buttons, orkeys that close associated switches to connect machine working voltageto specific parts of the :machine circuit that will give accelerated dupand space movements for the manual mode of operation, and which furtherintroduces a skip function that is still faster operation of the spacefunction.

In an IBM Model 29 card punch machine the speed of column movement forthe dup function when in automatic operation is 20 columns per second,but as noted hereinbefore when in the manual mode of operation the speeddrops to about 9.5 columns per second. The manual space function is arepeated manual operation that can be accomplished at only about threeto five spaces per second. The auxiliary keyboard of the presentinvention increases card movement for the dup and space operations to 20columns per second, and a skip function is provided that advances a cardat columns per second. This very fast skip function is used when thereis a considerable distance of blank columns to be traversed, so that inoperation the skip key is depressed until the area in which informationto be inserted is. reached, and then the operator moves to the space keyuntil the exact column to be punched is reached.

As an example of the advantage of the invention, let it be assumed that500 cards are to be corrected in a days time. Using the machine in itsnormal condition the time to duplicate the cards with individualcorrections being made in each may be approximately 80 minutes. If thekeyboard of the invention were employed the time may be reduced to about40 minutes, or one-half that required without use of the invention. Thetime saving is noteworthy.

It is the prime objective of the invention to increase the speed orefficiency of a card punch machine, particularly when in the manual modeof operation, and when a substantial amount of a card is to beduplicated or skipped. Other objects are to achieve the prime objectivewith minimal rearrangement of the basic card punch machine and at aminimal cost. A simple circuit and easily manipulated auxiliary keys arefurther objectives.

The forgoing and other objects and advantages of this invention willappear from the following description, in which description reference ismade to the accompanying drawing which shows by way of illustration andnot of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention. Suchembodiment does not represent the full scope of the invention, ratherthe invention may be employed in a variety of embodiments, and referenceis made to the claims herein for interpreting the breadth of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing there is shown a wiringdiagram of an embodiment of the invention together with a representationof some of the circuit elements of a card punch machine in conjunctionwith which the invention may be utilized.

DESCRlI'I' ION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing,a circuit of the invention is shown within the rectangular, dottedoutline l, and outside of the dotted rectangle 1 there are a number ofcircuit elements that form a part of a card punch machine. The elementsof the card punch machine are shown for the purpose of indicating anenvironment within which the invention may be employed, and no attemptis made to render a complete circuit of a card punch machine, for suchcircuits are known in the art and can be found in manufacturersbulletins. In the description herein sufficient reference is made to thecard punch machine circuit and some aspects of its operation toindicated the mode of operation of the invention, so that it may beconstructed and utilized by those who work in the art.

tons 2, 3 and 4 are provided, and they are referred to herein as keys"of the auxiliary keyboard of the invention. The key 2 is for performingthe space function, the key 3 for the skip function, and the key 4provided for the dup, or duplicate function. One side of each of thekeys 2, 3 and 4 is connected in common with the other keys and an inputlead 5. The input lead 5 is also connected to one side of the normallyopen holding contacts 6 of a control relay 7. The control relay 7includes a coil 8 and a set of normally closed contacts 9. The side ofthe normally open contacts 6 opposite the connection with the lead 5 isjoined in common with one end of the coil 8, and the other end of thecoil 8 is joined to ground. The side of the coil 8 connected with thenormally open contact 6 is also connected through a set of diodes 10, 11and 12 and a set of leads 13, 14 and 15 back to the keys 2, 3 and 4respectively. This connection of the coil 8 with the keys 2, 3 and 4 isat the side of the keys opposite to the connections with the input lead5.

It is further seen from the drawing that the side of the space key 2connected to the lead 13 is joined through a diode 16 to an output lead17, that the skip key 3 is connected through a diode 18 to an outputlead 19, and that the dup key 4 is connected through a first diode 20 toone output lead 21 and through a second diode 22 to an output lead 23.To complete the circuit of the invention the nonnally closed relaycontacts 9 are joined to control leads 24 and 25.

To feed an operating voltage to the keyboard circuit, the input lead 5is connected to the supply voltage of the card punch machine, and thisvoltage is normally in the amount of 48 volts. When the invention isemployed with an IBM Model 29 a judicious point of connection for theinput lead 5 is at the nonnally open stationary contact 24-6 of the socalled card lever relay. (The numeral 24-6 is an IBM identification, andsuch numerals will be referred to herein for clarity of explanation tothose in the art.) The opposite side of the selected contact of the cardlever relay is joined directly to the 48-volt power source, and hencewhenever the card lever relay contact 24-6 is closed 48 volts will beapplied to the circuit of the invention. This application of voltagewill occur throughout the cycle of one card passing through the cardpunch station of the machine, for this is the operating nature of theselected card lever relay, and as will hereinafter, appear, thisperiodic interruption of voltage to the circuit 1 will cause the circuit1 to deenergize and become ready for the next card for which the space,skip or dup function of the auxiliary keyboard is desired.

Whenever one of the keys 2, 3 and 4 is depressed the operating voltagewill be applied through the particular key depressed and its associateddiode 10, 11 or 12 to the coil 8 of the control relay 7. The relay isthus energized to close the normally open contacts 6, and these contactsthen apply the operating voltage directly across the coil 8 to maintainthe relay in an energized state until that point of time when thevoltage supply is cut off by operation of the card lever relay of thecard punch machine. Thus, the relay 7 will hold its normally closedcontacts 9 open throughout the time period comprising the cycle ofmoving one card through the card punch station.

The purpose of holding the normally closed contacts 9 open is to insurethat the star wheel circuit of the card punch machine is inoperative,whereby the machine will be in the manual mode of operation. It iscontemplated that the machine operator will normally disengage the starwheel system, and thus place the machine in the manual mode of operationprior to utilization of the auxiliary keyboard of the invention.However, to have an automatic assurance that the machine is prepared forthe manual mode of operation the normally closed contacts 9 areprovided.

The leads 24 and that are connected to the normally closed contacts 9are joined into the star wheel energizing circuit in such a manner thatthe opening of the contacts 9 will insure deenergization of the starwheel. in the example of the drawing, this is done by connecting thelead 24 to the normally closed stationary contact of the machine relaycontacts 23-4 and the lead 25 to the normally open movable contact ofthe relay contacts 24-4. The machine lead which usually connects thesetwo relays is removed from the active circuit, and thus whenever thecontacts 9 are open the 48 volts of the star wheel which are usually fedto the star wheel circuit through the relay 23-4 will be unavailable,wherefore the card punch machine will be in the manual mode ofoperation. in the drawing, the manually operable program switch 26 isalso shown. This program switch 26 is normally raised by the machineoperator to open the lead 27 which extends to the star wheel circuit,but in the event an operator does not so move the program switch 26 thecontrol circuit of the invention will insure that the proper operationoccurs'wherein the manual mode of operation is selected.

Referring now to the space key 2 and its output lead 17, such key 2 isjoined into the circuit of the card punch machine at the stationarycontact of relay contacts 104. The relay contact 10-4 is a part of theescapement interlock system and through it the key 2 and lead 17 arejoined to the escape magnet 28, which magnet is connected at itsopposite side through a cam switch 29 to ground. in the operation of thecard punch machine the escapement interlock causes the contacts 10-4 toopen and close 20 times per second and thus the escape magnet 28 will beenergized and deenergized at the same frequency. With each energization,the magnet 28 operates an armature of a stop to allow the machine driveclutch to advance a card one space through the machine. Thus, operationof the space key 2 will advance a card 20 spaces per second in a manualmode of operation, whereas the normal machine keyboard has a slower rateof about four spaces per second.

Turning to the skip key 3, the lead 19 is connected to the skip relay 30of the card punch machine circuit, and the connection may convenientlybe made at the normally closed stationary contact 24-5, which is a partof the machine card lever relay. Then, when the skip key 3 is depressedthe skip relay of the card punch machine will be continuously energized.Energization of the skip relay causes the card punch machine to move acard successively through the punch station of the machine, but there isno accompanying action of the interlock relay as there was inconjunction with the operation of the space key 2. As a result, thestepping, or spacing at 20 spaces per second does not occur, but ratherthe machine will move a card ahead at a faster rate of approximatelyspaces per second. As hereinbefore noted, the skip key 3 is used onlywhen it is desired to move a card through the punch station for a field,or when it is desired to make a gross movement in advance of slowing thestepping of the card down to a rate that can be better controlled.

Turning now to the dup key 4, it has associated therewith the pair ofoutput leads 21 and 23. The purpose of the lead 21 is to apply a voltageto a card punch machine circuit to insure that it is placed in alphaoperation. By way of background explanation, a card punch machine suchas an IBM Model 29 has two items of information for each key of themanual keyboard. When the machine is in alpha operation one piece ofinformation will be provided by each key, and when the machine isremoved from alpha operation the other item of information will beprovided by each key when depressed. This is somewhat similar to a shiftregister of a typewriter, which causes a second item of information oneach key to be printed whenever a "shift" is made. In the operation of acard punch machine it is internally constructed so that it will notduplicate a blank column of a card in the reading station unless themachine is placed in alpha operation. Hence, it is desirable to have anassurance that whenever the dup key 4 of the auxiliary keyboard of theinvention is depressed that the card punch machine is in alpha in orderto duplicate blank columns.

To have the lead 21 insure the placing of the circuit in the alpha mode,it is connected to the alpha relay coils 31. To have a convenientconnection for this purpose, the lead 21 may be connected to the commonelement of the relay contacts 14-4. This connection of the lead 21 withthe alpha relay coils 31 is through a set of contacts generallydesignated in the drawing by the numeral 32, but in operation of thecard punch machine one or the other of the parallel circuits through thecontacts 32 will be closed so that their presence is immaterial. Tocarry out the duplicating function the output lead 23 is connected tothe coil of the dup relay 33, and this can be conveniently done bymaking a direct connection with the relay coil 33 at its side oppositefrom ground. Thus, when it is desired to duplicate a part of a card inthe reading station into a card in the punch station depression of thedup key 4 will cause a continuous energization of the dup relay 33. Theduplicating function will then proceed at the rate of 20 columns orspaces per second.

The presence of the diodes 16, 18, 20 and 22 is to block current flowthat might otherwise occur from the presence of the 48-volt voltagesupply at any of the leads 17, i9, 21 and 23 during operation of thecard punch machine at times when the auxiliary keyboard of the inventionis not active. The presence of 48 volts on either of the leads 17, 19,21 and 23 would cause an energization of the control relay 7 with itsattendant breaking of the star wheel circuit, which would be disruptiveof normal machine operation. The diodes 10, 11 and 12 isolate the threekeys 2, 3 and 4 from one another, so that a depression of one will nottransmit the 48 volts to the circuits of the other two.

There is shown and described herein an auxiliary keyboard for a cardpunch machine that increases the rate of operation of the machine duringtimes when cards are being stepped through the machine by manualoperation for such purposes as card correction. The increased rate ofoperation occurs during both duplicating and spacing functions, so thatcards can be transported through the machine faster than heretoforepossible when corrections have been undertaken on individual cards. inaddition, a manual skip function in which a card is moved very rapidlythrough the machine is also made available to the operator.

I claim:

1. ln a keyboard for a card punch machine having an escape magnetenergized through an escape interlock relay, a skip relay, an alpharelay, a duplicate relay, a star wheel circuit, and a card lever relayfor intermittently applying a voltage, the combination comprising:

a set of three manually operated keys for space, skip and duplicatefunctions respectively;

a control relay having a coil and a set of contacts;

power input connections joined with one side of each of said keys whichare for connection with said card lever relay to receive an intermittentvoltage therefrom;

the first of said keys being a space key joined to an output lead forconnection through said interlock relay to said escape magnet, and alsojoined to said relay coil;

the second of said keys being a skip key joined to a lead for connectionwith said skip relay, and also joined to said relay coil;

the third of said keys being a duplicate key joined to leads forconnection "with said alpha relay, said duplicate relay, and said relaycoil; and,

connections for joining said relay contacts into said star wheel circuitfor interrupting the circuit upon operation of said relay.

2. in a keyboard for a card punch machine having an escape magnet, askip relay, an alpha relay, a duplicate relay, a star wheel circuit withinput leads, and a card lever relay for applying a voltage, thecombination comprising:

a set of three manual, normally open keys for space, skip and duplicatefunctions respectively;

a control relay having a coil, self-holding contacts and normally closedcontacts;

power input connections joined with one side of each of said keys andwith one side of said relay self-holding contacts which are forconnection with said card lever relay to receive a volta e therefrom;the first of said teys being a space key oined through a diode to a leadfor connection with said escape magnet, and also joined through a seconddiode to said relay coil;

the second of said keys being skip key joined through a diode to a leadfor connection with said skip relay, and also joined through a seconddiode to said relay coil;

the third of said keys being a duplicate key joined through one diode tosaid alpha relay, through another diode to said duplicate relay, andthrough a third diode to said relay coil; and

connections for joining said normally closed relay contacts into saidstar wheel circuit input leads.

1. In a keyboard for a card punch machine having an escape magnetenergized through an escape interlock relay, a skip relay, an alpharelay, a duplicate relay, a star wheel circuit, and a card lever relayfor intermittently applying a voltage, the combination comprising: a setof three manually operated keys for space, skip and duplicate functionsrespectively; a control relay having a coil and a set of contacts; powerinput connections joined with one side of each of said keys which arefor connection with said card lever relay to receive an intermittentvoltage therefrom; the first of said keys being a space key joined to anoutput lead for connection through said interlock relay to said escapemagnet, and also joined to said relay coil; the second of said keysbeing a skip key joined to a lead for connection with said skip relay,and also joined to said relay coil; the third of said keys being aduplicate key joined to leads for connection with said alpha relay, saidduplicate relay, and said relay coil; and, connections for joining saidrelay contacts into said star wheel circuit for interrupting the circuitupon operation of said relay.
 2. In a keyboard for a card punch machinehaving an escape magnet, a skip relay, an alpha relay, a duplicaterelay, a star wheel circuit with input leads, and a card lever relay forapplying a voltage, the combination comprising: a set of three manual,normally open keys for space, skip and duplicate functions respectively;a control relay having a coil, self-holding contacts and normally closedcontacts; power input connections joined with one side of each of saidkeys and with one side of said relay self-holding contacts which are forconnection with said card lever relay to receive a voltage therefrom;the first of said keys being a space key joined through a diode to alead for connection with said escape magnet, and also joined through asecond diode to said relay coil; the second of said keys being skip keyjoined through a diode to a lead for connection with said skip relay,and also joined through a second diode to said relay coil; the third ofsaid keys being a duplicate key joined through one diode to said alpharelay, through another diode to said duplicate relay, and through athird diode to said relay coil; and connections for joining saidnormally closed relay contacts into said star wheel circuit input leads.